Pretty Eyes
by dwparsnip
Summary: Rodney says something while under the influence of drugs that needs to be clarified. McKeller.


I don't own Stargate Atlantis- if I did there'd most likely be a season six dealing with rogue Asgard, more replicators, the Genii, more surprises and, of course, more Wraith. MGM owns it.

Don't know where this came from. I think the characters' character might be off, but it's the best I could do with the amount of attention I'm willing to put into it.;)

Hope you like it anyway. Not beta'ed, so sorry for the mistakes.

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_If only Professor Sturgeonson could see me now!_ thought Jennifer with an inward quiver as she settled down next to the makeshift gurney in their makeshift operating room. 'Makeshift' had become a term she used far too frequently since becoming Atlantis' CMO, and while she hadn't yet found anything that either she or someone else couldn't find a way around, it sure was tiring trying to do it so often.

Case in point, today's little procedure. While it wasn't as dangerous as drilling into someone's head in a damp, mold-infested cave with a regular cordless drill, it still wasn't ideal. And the more she thought about it the more she felt little bubbles of black laughter working their way upwards from the pit of her stomach at the fit that Sturgeonson, her octogenarian surgical mentor, would have at seeing what she was doing.

The old curmudgeon would probably try to will himself back through time and flunk her.

"You have the most beautiful eyes," said her patient with a mixture of adoration and astonishment. It was always hard to tell exactly what side of the fence he was speaking from when he was as high as the proverbial kite on morphine, even with the wealth of experience she'd managed to amass in that particular situation.

The usual safe response, and the one she gave him now, was, "Thank you, Rodney."

"Welcome," he slurred sleepily, though his eyes remained wide open and fixated on a point on the ceiling above them. "I like blue eyes, too, like Sam's….Sam's eyes are realllllly nice. Or…or…I can't remember her name. What was her name? The plant lady… Katherine? Kimberly? Katrina?"

Jennifer hesitated, unwilling to continue until she could trust that her hands wouldn't shake. It was silly of her, she knew. Rodney was under the influence of a highly potent drug and anything he said couldn't be held against him. And the arrow sticking out of the front of his right thigh should have garnered him a little leeway as well. _What was it with Rodney and arrows anyway?_ At least this one was minor in that it missed everything vital and it didn't have an arrowhead of any sort. Its piercing power came from the sharpened tip of the arrow, meaning the damage should be minimal.

"Katie!" exclaimed Rodney triumphantly, drawing her attention back to him. "Katie had blue eyes. She had pretty eyes too…very pretty eyes."

"Rodney," whispered Sheppard from where he was sitting near Rodney's head. "Wouldn't it be better if you stopped talking and saved your strength?"

Jennifer smiled to herself as she ran the scanner over Rodney's leg one last time to verify that the arrow had missed the artery. No matter the situation, John was always looking out for Rodney, and even though Rodney would never admit it to anyone, he would always do the same for John.

Sheppard leaned down closer to Rodney, and his eagerness to help his friend save some of what was left of his dignity easily turned the sotto voce tone that Sheppard tried to use into something akin to a dull roar that she could easily hear.

"You're talking," he stopped and glanced up towards Keller, noticed the sidelong look she was giving them and lowered his voice, "you're talking about other women, Rodney, while your significant other is trying to remove an arrow from your leg." He leaned in even closer so he could whisper more softly, but when he spoke it came out as loud as before. "So shut up!"

He immediately realized that he'd said that much louder than he'd meant to and sat up abruptly, casting a cautious glance to Keller and then giving her a disarming shrug when he saw that she was slowly shaking her head in obvious amusement

"You know who else had pretty eyes?" an oblivious Rodney asked to John, much to the latter's dismay. "Laura. They weren't blue, her eyes, but they were pretty."

Jennifer's brow creased in confusion as she gently slid the arrow out of Rodney's leg. She tossed the projectile to the ground and immediately applied a fresh bandage to the wound, pressing down as hard as she dared to stop the little bit of bleeding. She couldn't remember any Lauras on Atlantis that Rodney would know or have any dealings with. She glanced over to the Colonel and saw that he didn't know who Rodney was talking about either.

"Her eyes were hazel," declared the inebriated Canadian. "And they looked really nice with her blond hair." Rodney sighed and closed his eyes. "Although her hair was red, too." His eyes snapped open and he looked to John. "What do they call it, Kirky-boy? You know, when it's red…but blond? Raspberry…something?"

Jennifer lifted the bandage enough to take a peek and replaced it immediately. "Strawberry blond," she said somewhat distractedly, and then she paused as she asked herself why she'd helped Rodney to keep digging the whole he was digging himself into.

Rodney pointed to her and said excitedly, "Yes! That's it! Strawberry blond."

Jennifer looked to John, and if Rodney's reaction to her tidbit of information had been almost giddy, then John's reaction bordered on being terrified.

"Ah, Rodney," John said as one would be prone to talk to a confused child, "I'm your friend right?" Rodney gave the Colonel an exaggerated nod and Sheppard said, "And you trust me right?" Again Rodney gave him a deep nod. John leaned closer to Rodney's ear and said, "Then listen to me now and shut up!"

Jennifer didn't even realize that she'd chuckled until John's eyes snapped up to her and Rodney gave her a sloppy grin. "What's so funny?" the scientist asked with a chuckle of his own.

"Nothing," said Jennifer as she lifted the pad from his leg to see that the bleeding had ebbed considerably. She reached down and retrieved a new pad, and after fixing it in the proper position she taped it in place, then looked up to see that Rodney had fallen asleep. She smiled fondly at her sleeping scientist and then turned to look at Sheppard who had suddenly found the sights of his P-90 very interesting.

Jennifer turned to the two officers who had brought a gurney through the gate from Atlantis. "He's ready." She stood up and took a step back to give the men room. "Just be careful not to jostle that leg too much."

She watched intently as the two men, burly Marines so well built that she suspected that one of them could have carried Rodney to the gate with one hand if he had to, carefully lifted the slumbering scientist off the table he'd been lying on. Once they had Rodney strapped onto the gurney she reached over and, with a care that she'd reserved only for the man she adored so much, she pulled a blanket up over him and tucked it underneath his chin.

When Jennifer was satisfied with that, she gave the men a nod and reached down to gather her gear together only to find that Sheppard had already collected her things and had her bag thrown over his shoulder. She gave him a grateful smile and moved to follow Rodney's gurney out the door of the little shack they'd been in.

They were halfway to the gate before Jennifer decided to break the stiff silence that had befallen them. "Who was he talking about?"

John gave her an uncomfortable glance and then turned his gaze forward. "Laura Cadman," he said a moment later, and with obvious reluctance. "She and Rodney had an issue with a Dart a few years ago."

Jennifer frowned as her mind went over the ridiculous number of reports she'd read since becoming Atlantis' CMO. She scanned her memory for any reports concerning Darts, Rodney and Laura Cadman. _Cadman…Cadman…Cadman, _she repeated in her mind. _Laura Cadman. Lieutenant Laura Cadman._

"Her consciousness had been housed inside Rodney's mind after they were released from the storage chamber of a damaged Dart," she remembered out loud. She turned to Sheppard and received a confirming nod.

"Cadman," began John, "well, she had the ability to get under Rodney's skin, and because she was literally in his head he always walked on eggshells around her." John hesitated and then sighed. "They didn't seem to like each other very much. I'm surprised about what he just said."

The gate came into sight, and as John trotted ahead to dial the gate Jennifer whispered, "So am I."

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"Excuse me, Dr. Keller, but could I talk to you for a moment?"

Jennifer stopped in midstride, and after sparing a forlorn glance in the direction of Rodney's bed she turned and graced the city's resident toxicologist with her best professional smile.

"Of course, Dr. Ebens," she said as he stepped towards her. "What can I do for you?"

Ebens was one of the few people on Atlantis that she didn't particularly count as a friend, preferring instead to categorize him more as an acquaintance or colleague. She simply couldn't shake the feeling that he thought his boyish face, blond hair and blue eyes made him the envy of many, if not all.

"We've run the tox screen as you ordered," said the toxicologist as he handed her a tablet. "There doesn't seem to be any abnormalities in Dr. McKay's blood at all."

Jennifer handed the tablet back to Ebens without looking at the information. While she might not have thought of the man as a friend, she knew he was intelligent and more than competent in his work.

"That's good news," Jennifer said with a smile. She gave Ebens a grateful nod as she added, "Thank you, Doctor."

Ebens flashed her a toothy smile. "My pleasure, Doctor."

Jennifer just managed to keep from rolling her eyes and then turned and started heading towards Rodney's bed, but once again she found herself being brought up short of her destination.

Jennifer stood silently and watched as Colonel Sheppard spoke to Rodney. She was too far away to hear them, but she could definitely see that Rodney was saying something to Sheppard, as well as the look of shock that came over the Colonel's face. It was replaced in short order by a smirk, and then by a smile when he looked up and saw her watching them.

Sheppard gave her a nod and patted Rodney on the shoulder before walking towards her. When he was close enough he said, "Hey, Doc."

"Colonel," she said by way of a greeting. "What kind of trouble are you getting into now?"

John gave her his best wide-eyed innocent look. "Me?" he asked with exaggerated bemusement. He walked past her as he said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Doc."

Jennifer couldn't help but smile as she watched the Colonel leave, but the smile disappeared when she turned back to look at Rodney, who by now had realized that she was close by and was watching her intently.

Jennifer took a deep breath and released it slowly as she made her way to Rodney's bed. "Hey there," she said softly as she touched his shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

Rodney snorted and closed his eyes for a second before saying, "Like I've been shot with an arrow. Again! Seriously, arrows? What is it with arrows?"

Jennifer laughed as she sat down in the chair that resided next to the bed. "I was wondering the same thing earlier," she said as her gaze fell to the floor in front of her.

"Hello!" exclaimed Rodney softly. "I'm over here."

Jennifer could feel the redness in her cheeks as she turned to look at him.

"Sheppard told me what I said after you gave me the morphine," he announced without preamble and with the tact, or lack thereof, that had made him somewhat infamous. "He thinks you might be upset by what I said. I told him he's an idiot. You're not upset are you?" When she didn't say anything Rodney rolled his eyes and then mumbled something about wishing people would use some common sense.

"Rodney…"

"What did I say?" Rodney demanded, though there was no anger in his voice that she could tell. If anything he sounded frustrated and a little disappointed.

"You said that I had pretty eyes," she replied after a moment. "And that Sam, Katie and Laura had pretty eyes."

Rodney shook his head. "No, what were my exact words?"

Jennifer looked into Rodney's eyes and replayed the scene in her mind. "You said that you like blue eyes, too, like Sam's …"

Rodney sighed loudly and held his hand out to her. When she placed her hand in his he looked at her and said, "Your eyes, Jennifer. What did I say about your eyes?"

"My eyes?" The question had escaped her lips before she'd even had the chance to think about it.

"I said, 'You have the most beautiful eyes'," he said a moment later, apparently having decided to abandon the questioning and do a little informing. "I may have been out of it but I do remember what I said."

She replayed that moment in her mind and relief encompassed her, followed immediately by embarrassment and contempt with herself for far too easily falling into the jealous girlfriend trap. She shook her head and closed her eyes as she said, "I can't believe I…now I feel like…

"It's not your fault," interrupted Rodney before she could finish the thought. "It's Sheppard's fault."

Surprised at the statement, Jennifer opened her eyes and looked at Rodney.

Rodney humphed as though it should have been obvious and then said with a shrug, "He dumbs us down."

"Rodney," Jennifer said warningly, though a smile graced her lips. She looked into his eyes and found them bright with Rodney McKay arrogance.

"Have I ever told you," he said deadpan, "that you have the most beautiful eyes?"


End file.
